


Friend from the Other Side

by RedHatMeg



Category: Disney Duck Universe
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural - Freeform, mentions of Gearloose family, mentions of Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 14:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12842883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHatMeg/pseuds/RedHatMeg
Summary: After another invention of Gyro Gearloose becomes a failure, enraged Scrooge McDuck says couple of harsh things to the inventor. Later that night he has an unexpected visitor.





	1. The portrait on the wall

The door opened and Gyro Gearloose smiled a bit nervously.

“Ah, mister McDuck! You’ve come for the Beagle Boy Detector.” He said and let his guest in.

“Well, yes. Why else would I come here?” Scrooge replied, entering the inventor’s workshop. “Now,” he added, looking around the placed. “where is it?”

“I will go fetch it, mister McDuck.”  Gyro turned toward the storeroom and called after his employer: “Please, wait here.”

Scrooge wanted to tell him that Gyro should know his longtime employer will come for the machine he ordered, so it should be already in the main part of the workshop. But alas, the rich duck always knew that Gyro Gearloose is odd and sometimes very unreasonable. Nevertheless, he was also brilliant and useful.

Scrooge heard the commotion in the storeroom, indicating that Gyro was shuffling his inventions around, looking for the one mister McDuck ordered. The duck himself gave a sigh. His eyes started to wander around the workshop. As always there were various devices Gyro was currently working on – some of them were original inventions of Duckburg’s most well-known inventor, others were just home appliances people brought him to fix.

Gyro’s Little Helper was sitting on one of the benches and even though he had no eyes, Scrooge couldn’t shake the feeling that he was staring at him. So the rich duck avoided his gaze, looking at the front wall. There was a “Shh, genius at work” sign… but Scrooge’s eyes quickly caught a different object hanging there.

Right beside the front door was a portrait of a chicken. The chicken resembled Gyro Gearloose in almost every way – he had his nest hair, his beak, and sense of fashion… but he was wearing a top hat.

Sometimes, when Scrooge had to wait for Gyro to bring him his newest invention, he was staring at this picture. He knew the person portrayed there. It was Gyro’s grandfather, Ratchet Gearloose. And every time when Scrooge was looking at him, he was remembering his youth.

Ratchet was one of the first things thirteen year old Scrooge McDuck saw in the  New World – a weird, young man standing on the box next to a wagon, trying to sell a capsules that could clear a muddy water. He was working alongside Scrooge with boy’s uncle Angus “Pothole” McDuck on Pothole’s steamboat “Dilly Dollar”, and later, when Angus retired and sold the boat to Scrooge, Ratchet was his mechanic.

Scrooge was always smiling, while remembering the good times on “Dilly Dollar”. There was a sense of camaraderie between him and Ratchet. During long days on the steamboat, when uncle Angus was ordering him around (and teaching him everything he would need to know about steamboats), it was nice to go to the boiling room from time to time and simply talk with Ratchet, when the mechanic was repairing something. Ratchet could also make wonderful pastry and sometimes he was baking something in one of the boilers on the slow days.

Both when they were just two guys working under uncle Angus, and when Scrooge was the captain of “Dilly Dollar”, Ratchet proved, many times, to be all they needed to win. Whenever it was Blackheart Beagle or some other scum, trying to get to “Dilly Dollar’s” cargo, Ratchet’s quick thinking was making the boat go faster and saving him and Scrooge from certain death.

Then when “Dilly Dollar” was destroyed during their final encounter with Blackheart Beagle and his sons, Scrooge and Ratchet’s ways parted and, for the long time, Scrooge didn’t know what was happening with his old friend. He suspected that Ratchet became a piemaker or something. After all, he wanted a peaceful job.

So what a surprise it was to see him in Java (near volcano, nonetheless!). It was wonderful to see an old friend so far and his latest invention proved to be useful (if not a bit out of control, since it didn’t have brakes). Thanks to Ratchet’s prototype car, Scrooge was able to get out of the jungle and find a way to Batvia, where the sultan and his men were holding Scrooge’s two bulls (without paying for them!). There, on Java, Ratchet saved Scrooge once again, when volcano erupted. The noise could have destroyed their eardrums, if it wasn’t for Ratchet telling Scrooge, captain Morgan and the whole crew of Cutty Salk to put cotton wool into their ears.

Then there was that time they were looking for gold in the hills around Pizen Bluff. And that was the last time they were together. It was kind of sad that Scrooge had never met Ratchet again after that. And he sometimes wished he could see Ratchet again; that he could talk with him, remember old times, ask how he’s doing.

The funny thing was that Scrooge was 100% certain that Ratchet was in Duckburg. The proof was that Scrooge met Fulton Gearloose and his two Junior Woodchucks friends in Fort Duckburg. The rich duck learned about Fulton being Ratchet’s son a bit later, but once he realized it, he started to wonder if his old friend will ever visit him. During his early life in Duckburg, in moments when Scrooge wasn’t occupied by any investment, he was thinking about coming to Gearloose household and visit Ratchet himself. But soon the he found himself fully occupied by becoming the richest duck in the world.

And so he never got around to meet with Ratchet, and Ratchet never visited him.

This portrait on Gyro Gearloose’s wall filled old Scrooge with mixture of sweet nostalgia and bitter regret. On this portrait Ratchet looked just like Scrooge had remembered him – young, friendly, full of hope . And here was Scrooge – old, rich and bitter – looking at his deceased companion and thinking about past that will never come back. There were so many things he wished to tell his former mechanic… so, _so_ many things…

“Here it is, mister McDuck… Oh, I’m sorry.” Gyro’s voice took Scrooge back to present.

The duck turned back to the inventor, who was holding a weird looking contraption. In many ways, Gyro was reminding him of his grandfather… but he just wasn’t him.

“With free three-days test run, as we established?” Scrooge looked at Gyro with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, of course, mister McDuck.” Gyro replied, visibly uncomfortable with this arrangement. Little Helper was even more displeased.

The best thing about Gyro was that the guy knew nothing about business. He was happy to do inventions just for the sake of inventing. It worked perfectly in Scrooge’s advantage, because he was able to get pretty useful stuff for only mere cents.

They took the Beagle Boy Detector to Scrooge’s limo to install it in one of the smaller bins.

 

It didn’t go well.

Scrooge had set the Beagle Boy Detector on the highest possible frequency (that – according to Gyro – was suspicious to everybody going through the main gate). Back then it seemed to be a good idea and Scrooge still felt fully justified with his decision. After all, you can’t be too careful with money, and his money were always in danger.

Long story short, when he tried to get to his Money Bin number 15, he discovered that Beagle Boy Detector considered him a Beagle Boy in disguise and quickly restrained him. _Him_! The owner of this money bin, half of Duckburg’s industry and this stupid contraption Gyro Gearloose spawned from his crazy mind! What a mess!

It took Donald, nephews and Gyro himself to finally disable and dismantle this blasted thing, and when they did, Scrooge was angry. No, not angry – he was enraged! And his rage was directed towards only one person.

“ _You_!” He yelled, pointing at the inventor. “ _You_ and your hellish contraptions! There is always something wrong with them! They either malfunction or have some designed flaw! Either way, it always bites me in the feathers!”

“I-I’m sorry, mister McDuck, but…” Gyro tried to defend himself, however, Scrooge didn’t let him.

“No ‘buts’!” Scrooge cut him. “No excuses! I don’t even know why I keep employing you! You’re a disgrace to this town and to your whole family! You’re nothing more than just good-for-nothing lunatic!”

Something visibly snapped in Gyro. He frowned, took a step forward and yelled back:

“Well, maybe if you acted according to instructions I give you, sir, you would avoid half of disasters my inventions caused!” He took another step towards Scrooge, who stayed in his place. “And maybe if you’d respected me enough to listen to me, whenever I ask you to not do something, you wouldn’t find himself in all those dire situations! But _no_! You always have to temper with my inventions, because apparently you know better than _me_ , their own creator!”

He leaned closer to Scrooge’s face. Now they were facing each other, like they were engaged in intense staring contest.

“You’re fired, Gearloose.” Scrooge finally hissed.

Gyro, on the other hand straightened himself and raised his arms.

“Fine by me! From now on my workshop is always closed to you, sir!”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Donald decided to jump into action. He turned to his relative: “Uncle Scrooge, not all inventors are as cooperative with tightfisted rich ducks as Gyro.”

“Yeah.” Huey agreed.

“And it’s not like Gyro’s inventions are always so bad…” Dewey added.

“You could always count on Gyro’s help.” Louie concluded.

But Scrooge was still filled with anger and he wasn’t going to let common sense change his mind.

“You’re wasting your time, nephews.” He said and added: “Also you’re wrong. I could always count on _Ratchet_. He was a competent mechanic and inventor. I guess, expecting the same from his good-for-nothing grandson was too much.” He said.

He turned his back on all five of them and started to walk towards his limo. But then he heard the inventor calling after him:

“Grandpa Ratchet used to be your mechanic… but you also used to be nicer.”

Scrooge stopped and looked back. Gyro’s angry expression changed into more sad one.

“And let me tell you one thing, mister McDuck: there was a reason he never visited you.”

“Oh, yeah? And what was it?” Scrooge asked.

For a moment Gyro wasn’t responding. It was obvious it was making him uncomfortable for some reason. Scrooge, on the other hand, was waiting for an answer.

“It’s not for me to tell.” He said finally.

“Well then, goodbye, Gyro.”

It was too late for any business and, frankly he was very, very tired, so Scrooge told Jeevers to take him home. From the limo’s window, he could see that his nephews and Gyro were going to their places too.

All the way to the McDuck Mansion Scrooge was wondering what Gyro meant by his last words.

 

Gyro entered his house and hanged his coat on the mechanical rake that came to his aid. The inventor’s eyes landed on the portrait on the wall – a portrait of gentle chicken whose stories shaped Gyro into the person he was now. His grandfather was wonderful, kind and ingenious. Gyro always liked spending time with him.

Gyro sighed.

He really wished grandpa Ratchet was here.

Little Helper came in and immediately sensed Gyro’s mood.

“It seems that mister McDuck won’t be looking for our services, anymore.” The inventor explained.

He told Little Helper about the whole incident and it made him angry again. He was too angry to focus on inventions, so he decided to just go to sleep earlier. He tried to not think about the squabble with mister McDuck, and Little Helper was trying to distract his friend one way to another, but for a long time it didn’t work. Gyro’s mind was coming back to the events of Beagle Boy Detector and all the harsh words spoken by Scrooge McDuck.

In the end Gyro and Little Helper settled for reading book Gyro got for his last birthday. It finally worked and soon the inventor was enveloped in peaceful slumber.

Around three in the morning Gyro was awoken by Helper’s little hands, pushing him lightly. Before he could even open his eyes, the inventor smelled a sweet, familiar scent. This make him abruptly sit up.

Then he saw the light coming from the kitchen. Gyro didn’t remember leaving lights on. To be fair, he didn’t remember going to the kitchen either. This could mean that someone managed to enter his house without activating his alarms. Likely someone who was after Gyro’s inventions.

So Gyro put Helper on his shoulder and took the remote control for his anti-burglar devices and carefully, as quiet as he was able to, he went to the kitchen. Once he peeked through the door, he noticed it was eerie quiet and there was no one to be seen. For a moment he thought that maybe he just forgot to turn the lights off… but then he realized that the sweet scent from the kitchen was stronger. Finally Gyro opened the door widely and entered the room to find out what was happening. What he saw, astonished him.

On his kitchen table was standing custard pie. Judging by the sweet smell hanging in the room, it was the cherry custard pie.

Gyro came closer and sat at the table, observing the pie in front of him. This was his favorite pastry from when he was little and he used to come to grandpa’s place. Many of Gyro’s fond memories were about grandpa Ratchet’s cherry custard pie waiting for him whenever the boy felt down.

And now it was just there, on Gyro’s kitchen table. How it got there? Who baked it? And how did they know that this was his favorite pie?

Suddenly Little Helper slide down Gyro’s left arm and then tagged his friend’s sleeve to get his  attention. The inventor looked at him and quickly saw piece of paper next to the pie. He took it, unfold it and started to read the text written there in a familiar handwriting. When he was done, he didn’t know if he should be happy or scared.

 

Scrooge McDuck didn’t know what exactly made him awake in four in the morning, but he just felt uncomfortable in his own bedroom. Once he opened his eyes, he realized he wasn’t alone and quickly jumped into sitting position. For a moment he was just staring at the sight before him, not believing his own eyes.

In front of him, leaning his hands on rich duck’s bed frame was standing none other than Ratchet Gearloose. He was half-transparent and glowing a green light, but other than that he looked just like Scrooge remembered him.

And he seemed to be displeased with him.

“Hello, Scrooge.”


	2. We need to talk

Of course, any ordinary person would be scared if a ghost was standing in front of them. Even more so if said ghost clearly meant business and wasn’t there just to shuffle some stuff from one place to another.

But Scrooge McDuck wasn’t ordinary. He had to deal with lots of ghosts in the past. And so he only stood up, grabbed his night lamp and threw it at the apparition.

“ _Now_ you show up?!”He yelled.

The lamp went right through Ratchet, who didn’t even wince, and hit the wall. Scrooge grabbed the next thing in his vicinity – a big tome on history of banking Gladstone gave him one day – and readied himself to throw it.

“You do realize that I’m a ghost?” Ratchet said calmly. “So you can’t actually hit me?”

“I don’t care.” Scrooge hissed and threw the book as hard as he could.

Just like the lamp, it passed right through the chicken. Once it was stopped on the wall, the book fell on the floor with a thud. This, on the other hand, seemed to sober Scrooge a bit. He was still angry, but managed to cool down a little. He crossed his arms and for a moment wasn’t looking at Ratchet, showing that he was upset.

“I thought you will be happy to see me.” The former mechanic said and even smiled lightly. “You _wanted_ to see me again. And now you’re angry with me?”

Scrooge looked at him, not turning back, and for the moment he remembered his previous sadness, when he was looking at Ratchet’s portrait. Part of him really was happy to see his old friend again; part of him hoped that it was a chance to talk with Ratchet and catch up with him.

_And let me tell you one thing, mister McDuck: there was a reason he never visited you…_

The thing was that this blasted sentence spoken by blasted Gyro Gearloose after their fight made him uneasy. Scrooge had some ideas as to what was the reason behind Ratchet avoiding him. And although, most of the time he tried not to let it get into his skin, there were times when it actually was.

“I’ve come to talk.” The ghost began and got serious. “ _We_ need to talk, Scrooge.”

“You want to talk? Good!” Scrooge shot him a cold gaze. “How about you tell me why you ignored me all those years when we were both living in Duckburg, and showed up only now, when you’re dead?”

“That’s… not important, anymore.” He said with resignation. “Besides,” He added, looking down. “it’s not like you would ever let me into your palace. You would be too busy filling up your Money Bin.”

Scrooge absolutely wasn’t in the mood for this whole “You only think about your money.” shtick.

“Now, listen…” Scrooge began, pointing his finger towards the ghost.

“No, _you_ listen!” Ratchet yelled, leaning more towards Scrooge, and his eyes started to glow red.

The duck expected Ratchet to act polite, awkward and as non-confrontational as possible. No matter the generation, Gearlooses were always trying to avoid fight. Years of dealing with them taught Scrooge this simple truth: conflict just wasn’t in their nature.

So what happened next was a complete surprise to Scrooge.

“For years my grandson provided you with inventions! No matter what came to your mind, what kind of insane and nonsensical plan you’ve had, he always delivered! And what he was getting in return?! He was berated, abused and underpaid! He was enduring this treatment ever since you’ve employed him for the first time, and frankly, both he and I have had enough!” Ratchet’s eyes became normal, but he still looked angry.

Chills went down Scrooge’s spine, but he managed to get a grip of himself.

“S-so,” He began, trying to not show that what just transpired made any effect on him. “you’re here because of Gyro?”

“Damn straight.” Ratchet stopped leaning on Scrooge’s bed frame, but kept his eyes on the duck. Suddenly his expression changed into more calm. “Although, it’s not entirely true.” He said casually. “I’ve come because of both of you.”

It took Scrooge a moment to realize what it meant.

“You’ve come because we were fighting.”

“Well, yes. Sort of.” Ratchet said and even smiled. But then he became serious and added: “I need to talk with you.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Scrooge turned his back on the ghost.

“Yes, there is.” Ratchet replied. “Scrooge, you have to apologize to Gyro and hire him back.”

“Why should I do that?” The rich duck asked, turning towards the chicken again. “Sorry to break it to you, but your grandson’s inventions always go sough, sooner or later.”

“Oh, sure.” Ratchet crossed his arms. “Just like that time when you’ve spilled the universal solvement on the ground, which resulted in it going straight for the Earth’s core.”

“Well, that was just an unfortunate misunderstanding…”

“Or that time when you were scared for your money and asked Gyro for advice. He advised you to exchange it for saving bonds and hide it. So you put them in Aeolian Mountains…”

“How should I know about strong winds in those damn caves?”

“It’s in their fricking name, Scrooge. Aeol was the Greek god of wind.”

“And how do you know about what was the name of Greek god of wind? Because I’m sure you were too poor to get classic education.”

“Public libraries can do wonders.” Ratchet smirked. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes… How about that time you set Beagle Boy Detector on…”

“Okay, I get it. It’s sometimes my fault too.” The duck said… before he added: “But his inventions _do_ malfunction often. And many people in Duckburg are complaining about this. He caused a lot of disasters back in a day.”

“And he was always putting his mind into fixing them.” Ratchet argued. “Tell me, Scrooge, do you know any other scientist who can do what Gyro does?”

The duck didn’t reply, so after a short moment of silence the ghost went on:

“You’ve said many times that he’s a genius. Because the simple truth is this: we, Gearlooses, aren’t good with fighting. We’re not particularly brave or strong. What we are, however, is smart. And to some jobs, Scrooge, you just need a Gearloose.”

Some part of Scrooge agreed. True, Gyro’s gizmos many times proved to be useful. And he did work for cheap… Maybe the duck was too hasty with firing him…

But then he remembered all the times when said gizmos were causing him to lose money. And then he remembered all the reasons he decided to fire this idiot. No way, he was going to hire him again! Especially because Ratchet probably assumed that Scrooge was going to come to Gyro and apologize.

Besides, there was something illogical in Ratchet’s actions. Scrooge turned to his old friend and asked:

“Say, if I treated your grandson so badly, why do you want him to work for me again so much?”

“Well, for starters, I expect you to treat him better this time.” The chicken explained with a light smile but then got serious. “Besides, I’m not doing it only for him. I’m doing it also for you.”

“I’m not apologizing to him, Ratchet.”

The ghost smiled again, but his smile had some sadness in it.

“You know, Scrooge,” He began. “I still remember the young man you used to be. And I missed him when I’ve come to Duckburg. “He saddened. “I hope he’s still there somewhere. Either way,” He smiled again and started to disappear. “see you soon, Scrooge.”

Before the rich duck could say anything, Ratchet Gearloose vanished and the first rays of sunshine glowed through the curtains.

 

“It has to be a joke.” Gyro said finally.

The inventor – now wearing his everyday clothes – was sitting at his kitchen table and observing the pie. He wasn’t alone – aside from Little Helper, there were also Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie who came for their fixed toaster and stayed for the mystery of suddenly present pastry.

“I don’t know, Gyro.” Huey replied.

“You said it yourself,” Dewey started. “it’s your favorite pie and your grandpa was making it whenever you felt down.”

“So it seems more like someone wanted to cheer you up.” Louie concluded.

“The thing is,” Gyro began. “that not many people know about cherry pie being my favorite and about grandpa Ratchet baking it for me. Mostly family members and there’s no one in town at the moment. Besides, how would they get here without activating the alarm?”

“Maybe _you_ have baked it and don’t remember?” Huey suggested

“You know,” Dewey added. “like you were sleep-baking?”

“I _do not_ sleep-bake. If anything, I sleep-invent.” Gyro argued.

“So maybe Helper made it.” Louie prompted.

Everybody looked at Little Helper, who started shaking his hand to deny it. The inventor smiled to his friend, but then got serious and turned to Donald’s nephews.

“Then how do you explain this?” He said, showing them the note left beside the pie. “Helper can do many amazing things, sure, but he couldn’t possibly imitate anyone’s handwriting. Let alone a handwriting of…” He cut suddenly and his face saddened.

“Let me look at this again.” Donald said, and before Gyro could say or do anything, the duck grabbed the note and read it out loud:

_Dear Gyro,_

_Don’t worry. Everything will be fine._

_Love,_

_Grandpa._

Donald looked up at the inventor.

“I personally would check if there’s nothing poisonous in there.”

“I’ve already done that with my poison scanner.” Gyro replied. “I’ve checked for all the threats I could think of. It’s an ordinary baking good.”

“Then I say: we take this custard pie and eat it before it becomes stale.” Donald sat at the table. “I’m hungry.”

“Uncle Donald!” Huey began.

“This pie is…” Dewey continued.

“For Gyro!” Louie concluded.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Gyro said and stood up to take plates from the cupboard. “I wouldn’t be able eat it all, anyway.”

A minute later they all were sitting at the table, munching on the cherry custard pie left by a mysterious baker. While eating his two pieces, Gyro remembered the warm feeling whenever he was visiting grandpa Ratchet. He remembered coming to his grandpa’s house every time when he was sad; he remembered sitting at the kitchen table and telling him about why he was sad, while grandpa was making him a cherry custard pie. And Gyro remembered eating it and feeling better, like everything was going to be okay. Because in the end, it always was, in some way or another.

One memory made Gyro especially nostalgic It was in an elementary school when some bullies jumped on him and destroyed his newest invention. To add insult to injury they also was laughing at his inventions and saying that he’s just a loser who can’t so anything right. While Gyro’s father, Fulton, decided to talk with bullies’ parents, Ratchet – as always – took upon himself to cheer up his grandson.

_“I’m a failure.” Gyro was crying._

_Ratchet crouched before the boy and said with a soft smile:_

_“Gyro, you shouldn’t care what some overgrown kids with anger issues think about you.”_

_“But what if they’re right, grandpa? What if I can’t invent anything good?” The kid kept weeping._

_“Gyro,” Still smiling, Ratchet put hands on his grandson’s shoulders and looked into his eyes. “History is full of inventors who were laughed at but later achieved great things. People just couldn’t see that they were dealing with a genius.”_

_“But… but my inventions are always turning into total disaster.” Gyro argued through the tears._

_“So what? Do you think that Bell’s phone was working perfectly good from the very beginning?” Grandpa asked. “You’re entitled do make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from your failures. Sooner or later you will start predicting possible outcomes and finding ways to prevent the unfavorable ones. You’ll see, Gyro,” He ruffled boy’s hair. “you will grow up to be a great inventor. Just you wait.”_

_Suddenly they sensed a weird smell. It took them a couple of seconds to realize that the black cloud was coming out of the oven. Even when Ratchet took the custard pie out as fast as he could, it still was darker than it should be. And it smelled like it was burned out, too._

_“See, Gyro?” His grandfather said, laughing. “Even grandpa makes mistakes…”_

 

Now, in a present times, Gyro once again felt sad that grandpa Ratchet wasn’t here, with him. He always knew what to say or do to make his grandson feel better. If he was here right now, he would probably tell Gyro… Well, the inventor wasn’t sure what his grandfather would tell him exactly, since when it came to mister McDuck, grandpa Ratchet was fond of memories from “Dilly Dollar” and often talked about his adventures with younger Scrooge McDuck. But at the end of every story his sparking eyes changed to sad, like he knew that those times will never come back. And then he was saying something along the lines of: “Such a pity…”

Many times in the past Gyro thought that Ratchet Gearloose would be at least partially happy that his grandson was working for his former captain. Maybe he would also be happy to know that in last few years Scrooge has opened to his family and was now as adventurous as in his youth. But after this quarrel a day ago…

 _I could always count on_ Ratchet _. He was a competent mechanic and inventor. I guess, expecting the same from his good-for-nothing grandson was too much…_

Grandpa used to say that Gearlooses were all about brains; that their greatest strength were their minds and tinkering skills. Nearly all of Gyro’s relatives were geniuses. So there were times when he felt that he wasn’t living up to family’s name. And when Scrooge McDuck told him that Gyro wasn’t as good as his grandfather, these feeling of inferiority came back. After all, mister McDuck worked with both of them. He had an opportunity to make comparisons.

Gyro banished these gloomy thoughts out of his head and decided to focus on who has been in his house last night. That was important thing to ponder at the moment.

It must have been someone who knew him well; someone who knew about grandpa Ratchet’s pies and what they’ve meant to Gyro. Someone also knew how to get into his house without activating all the anti-burglar devices. And as much as he was suspicious of it, all tests proved the pie was harmless, so it was a fair to assume that whoever put it there, wanted to cheer him up.

There was one explanation for this odd event. And giving what work for McDuck led him to see, he wasn’t so fast to dismiss this explanation. All of it would make sense, really – how the pie got here, why it was a cherry custard pie and why it had this odd note – but aside of being completely unscientific, this explanation also provoked a question: Why now, of all times?

Suddenly Gyro’s eyes caught something odd. For a moment he thought he saw someone standing in the doorframe and looking at Gyro and his guests in the kitchen. This someone looked suspiciously like…

But when Gyro looked at the same place again, there was no one there. So maybe he was just imagining things.

Soon boys and Donald had to go back to their house. Gyro also decided it was about time to open his workshop. So he said goodbye to the Ducks as they were leaving his house, and then started to put the dishes into his newly improved dishwasher.


	3. Thinking of the past, thinking of the future

 Scrooge jumped right into his Money Bin. Normally it was a relaxation ritual to ease his mind, but this time he wasn’t here just to swim in his vast fortune. This time he intended to find certain coin amongst the sea of gold and bills. He remembered it being somewhere on the far right corner, so he swam in that direction. Soon he was sitting amongst coins and scanning them.

When it came to money in his Money Bin, Scrooge McDuck possessed almost eidetic memory of every story behind every coin and bill – every adventure, every investment, every event that led him to own every piece of his vast fortune. He never spent anything stored inside his Money Bin. They were his memories put into one place, like a chest of antique trinkets, souvenirs and toys. Oh, well, he _was_ an old man. He was entitled to some sentimentality.

Scrooge finally found it: an old silver dollar. Once he put it up on his eye level and looked at it closer, he could almost hear the barman in a tavern asking him…

_“C’mon, son… What’ll be?”_

…and then his uncle Angus “Pothole” McDuck saying…

_“Tell him what you want, Scrooge! You’re a man of the means now!”_

Scrooge remembered everything – a thirteen-year-old him, uncle Angus and… Ratchet.

 

_They were celebrating the victory over Blackheart Beagle and his sons. They were also celebrating the bargain he and uncle Angus made (that Scrooge will be working under his uncle and take over “Dilly Dollar” when old Pothole retires). The silver dollar was Scrooge’s share of the reward put under Beagle Boys’ head. While the barman was waiting for Scrooge’s order, the boy was staring the dollar._

_It was magnificent and beautiful, but more importantly – when he was looking at it, he was reliving the thrill of his latest adventure – the Beagles, the sunk boat, the wood suddenly trapping Blackheart’s steamboat. And the longer he was staring at the coin, the more he was certain: it was just like with his first dime…_

 

“I didn’t realize it back then,” A familiar voice brought Scrooge back to present. “that this was the moment when this silly idea of Money Bin was planted in your head.”

Scrooge turned to his left where Ratchet was standing. The ghost smiled to him.

“’Spend your money! Do you want to end up with a coal bin full of the dang stuff?’” Ratchet mockingly mimicked uncle Angus and he was even waving his arms for emphasis.

Scrooge smiled weakly. Yes, this was what Pothole basically said when his nephew told him the memory his silver dollar brought to mind, was worth more than anything he could ever buy for it. And the idea of coal bin full of money seemed like a ridiculous, yet intriguing fantasy… When he was gathering his fortune, he knew which parts of it were destined to reside in this Money Bin he was going to build one beautiful day.

“He was… a practical duck.” Scrooge replied. “I’ve learned a lot about steamboats from him.”

“He wasn’t a bad captain. Or a bad person, for that matter.” Ratchet said with a sad smile. “He only had a bit of impulsive nature.”

“He also tended to lie sometimes.” The rich duck said with a bit of wryness. “Have you read those stories he wrote? They were preposterous!”

“Well, some of them were kind of funny.” Ratchet grinned. “Even though I wasn’t in  many of them.”

“Be happy! If I was the cowardly, constantly kidnapped nephew then who knows how you would be portrayed?”

The ghost didn’t say anything to that. He looked around with mild interest.

“So that’s how it looks like from the inside.” He spoke quietly, before he came back to gazing at Scrooge. “It’s… impressive.”

“Well, I’ve spent a lot of time and effort into making it impressive. But the main purpose is to store my memory money.”

“So that’s why you disassembled the old Fort Duckburg?” Ratchet asked quietly, resignation in his eyes. “That’s why you shooed away my son and other two Junior Woodchucks? To build a store for your money?”

Scrooge remembered three youngsters in those stupid beaver hats. He also remembered a tall, scrawny chicken with thin, black hair. One of his friends was calling him general Fulton…

“First of all,” The duck began his defense. “Casey Coot sold me this land. Secondly, I didn’t know that this kid was yours. And they found new headquarters, didn’t they?”

“This fort was where Duckburg began. If past means so much to you, why did you robbed this town of its history?”

“I’m also part of this town’s history!” Scrooge yelled, hitting the ground with his cane. “I’ve come here and industrialized Duckburg! Without me, this would still be a dump!”

“You don’t have to yell, Scrooge. I can hear you very well.” The mechanic said calmly. “And you don’t have to tell me about all the things you did to this town. I could see them in motion, after all.”

There was something in his tone… some unspoken accusation and resentment. And Scrooge could feel that his deceased friend didn’t consider McDuck’s influence as entirely good for Duckburg. But there was also something else. Some kind of deep sorrow.

“I can still remember when Fulton told me about you.” Ratchet continued. “He was sad that he and other Woodchucks couldn’t hang out in Fort Duckburg anymore, and he didn’t know where they will reside from now on.”

“Well, it’s not like they were going to give it without a fight.” Scrooge argued. “They contacted president, who brought cavalry.”

“But my son still came back, worried that he and his friends won’t have place for themselves. All because some big shot took their fort for himself. And later, when they were gathering money for their new place, the same big shot donated only an old doorknob.”

Scrooge’s eyes widened. Could it be…?

“Is this…” He began, looking at the ghost. “Is this why you never visited me? Because of what I did to Fulton?”

The chicken avoided his gaze and gave soft sigh.

“It’s far more complicated than that, Scrooge.”

“Then explain it to me!” McDuck stood up. “I have right to know!”

Ratchet once again looked at his former captain. He was observing him in silence with a sad expression and for the moment Scrooge could read pain in those eyes. The mechanic also looked conflicted, like he didn’t know if he should answer his friend’s question or not.

“And why did _you_ never visit _me_?” He finally replied. “You knew I was in Duckburg. You could come to me any time you wanted. Yet you never did.”

“Well…” Scrooge straightened himself and closed his eyes. “I was busy. Financial empire wouldn’t run itself, you know…” He then looked at the ghost. “Besides, I’m the one asking questions here.”

“Well, then…” Ratchet smiled lightly and walked towards Scrooge. When they were standing face to face, he extended his arm. “Take my hand. I have something to show you.”

Hesitantly Scrooge grabbed Ratchet’s transparent hand. It felt tangible, but cold and for a moment he was just staring at this wrinkled, hardened by years of work hand, while the coldness was sipping right into his bones. His own hand was also creased and old, and he tried to remember when was the last time they’ve shaken hands. Java, maybe?

But before he could think of it further he felt light all of a sudden and then they both appeared in the middle of Gyro’s workshop. The man himself was sitting at the desk and working on some kind of machine.

Scrooge looked at Ratchet with annoyed look, but the mechanic said, still smiling:

“Don’t worry, nobody can hear or see us now.”

“Why are we here, anyway?”

“Wait for a moment. He should be here any time soon.” Ratchet replied and turned back to look at the front door.

Scrooge did the same, and then someone knocked. Gyro abruptly stood up and walked right through his former boss to open the door. On the porch was standing little boy – about Huey, Dewey and Louie’s age – with glasses and brown mop hair – a Gearloose family trait.

“Hi, Newton.” The inventor greeted him and moved aside with a smile.

“Hi, uncle Gyro!” The kid replied with enthusiasm and came in. Then his expression changed into that of an amazement as he seemed to look at Ratchet, and he immediately ran through his ancestor and stopped only at the desk. Gyro laughing, came after him, once again going through the invisible Scrooge. Both the duck and the ghost turned back to look at Gyro and Newton, who leaned over the machine.

“Is it what I think it is, uncle Gyro?” The boy asked, eyes filled with wonder.

“If by ‘it’ you mean ‘new, better automatic pogo stick’, then yes, it is.” Gyro replied.

“That’s great! Can I help?”

His uncle giggled and ruffled his head.

“Only if you keep away from trouble.”

Scrooge averted his eyes from them and looked at Ratchet. The ghost was gazing at his relatives with expression of love and delight as they started to work together. Still smiling, he turned to Scrooge and said:

“You know, that reminds me when me and my father were working together in his workshop. That was where I learned the mechanics, chemistry and physics. And my dad was so happy to show me all of inner workings of the world. He hoped that I will be a great scientist, like Isaac Newton…” He got silent for a moment and just observed his grandson.

Scrooge, on the other hand, remembered his own father telling him about the Castle McDuck and about the meaning of hard work. The ricc duck suddenly started to miss Scotland.

“I’ve tried to invent something which could benefit the mankind,” Ratchet continued, still not averting his gaze from Gyro and Newton. “but I wasn’t very good at it.”

“Well, you did invent couple of useful things…” Scrooge decided to speak, but Ratchet didn’t listen.

“Once I’ve finally settled in Duckburg, my life changed.” He cut in and finally looked at his friend. “I’ve met a wonderful woman and we got married. And then Fulton was born.” His gaze returned to his descendents. “And just like my father before, I was dreaming of the bright future where my Fulton will be something more than me. That he will achieve something great.”

“Do you think this spring will do good?” Newton suddenly asked his uncle.

Gyro looked at the large spring the boy was holding and examined it in his hands.

“I think it’ll be enough.” He said and put the spring aside. “But we will test it later, just to be sure.”

“Then Fulton became a Junior Woodchuck, one of the first few Junior Woodchucks in history.” Ratchet went on and chuckled. “He once brought a merit badge, you know. He told me, he invented it himself, since they didn’t have merit badges back then… He was also the first one to earn it.” He took a deep breath, like he was trying not to cry. “And every day he tried to learn more and more about wilderness, survival and  world in general. And before I even noticed, Fulton knew more than me.”

There was so much pride in his eyes… So much happiness from his son’s achievements… But suddenly his expression changed into more bittersweet.

“What?” Scrooge smirked. “You remembered that, in the end, he became an ordinary repairman?”

Ratchet looked at him and replied:

“That’s not it. I just… feel old, all of a sudden.”

He once again became silent.

Meanwhile Gyro and Newton assembled the pogo stick together and Gyro put it on the ground, the lower part downside. The pogo stick seemed to be built for a man of Gyro’s height, but the inventor took the handle with both hands, screwed it to the left and then pushed down, making the pogo stick, handle and pedals smaller. Then he screwed the handle the other way around and the invention returned to its previous size.

“It works! That’s so cool, uncle Gyro!”

“ _One_ of the features works, Newton. We need to check if it’s safe to hop on it.”

“Can I do it, uncle Gyro?” The boy looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Absolutely not. You can get hurt.”

“You can too.” Newton argued.

“But I’m big and my head is harder than yours. Besides,” Gyro smiled to his nephew. “I’m not as efficient with first aid as you. But before we test this baby out,” He said, putting the pogo stick back on the desk. “how about you tell me if my ice cream machine makes good ice cream?”

“Hurray, ice cream!” The boy called, putting his hands in the air.

They both stood up and directed to the kitchen.

“Come on, Scrooge.” Ratchet urged the duck. “Let’s go after them.”

“Why? What’s the purpose of us watching them eat ice cream?” Scrooge asked.

“Just come with me.”

As it could be expected, both young Gearlooses were standing at the metal box with lots of buttons and a lever on the right side. However, instead of three feeders for each ice cream flavor (chocolate, creamy and mixed), there was only one.

“Which flavor would you like, Newton?” Gyro asked. “I’m taking pistachio with berries.”

“I want chocolate with caramel!” The boy screamed.

“Okay.”

Gyro only smiled and proceeded with pushing buttons that put new ice con under the feeder and filled it with chocolate and caramel ice cream. Then he gave the con to Newton and went on with making his own dessert.

“I still remember the day Gyro was born.” Ratchet spoke suddenly taking Scrooge’s attention away from Gyro and Newton. The mechanic smiled softly and looked at his companion. “You know, it was an odd feeling… seeing my son having a child of his own…” He gazed at Gyro, licking his ice cream. “But I remember that when I was holding him in my arms… when I was looking at another generation of Gearloose family, I could already see he was destined for great things.”

Scrooge wanted to say that Gyro’s inventions weren’t all that great, but before he could speak even one word, Ratchet said:

“Even when he was just a child, he was proving to be more brilliant than me and my father.” He looked at Scrooge with eyes filled with melancholy. “I was getting weaker with every year, and the world changed so much I couldn’t recognize it, anymore. Watching Gyro growing up, I realized, I was leaving something on this world. I knew that I will be dead one day, but Gearlooses will live on. Our legacy will survive. In my son, in my grandson and in every Gearloose that will come after them. And every generation will add something from themselves.”

“That’s so good, uncle Gyro!” Newton exclaimed, making the ghost silent. Then he became serious and asked: “But aren’t you worried about one ice cream having leftovers from the ice cream previously prepared? You know, due to single feeder?”

“Don’t worry. It already has a sterilizing mechanism…”

And he proceeded with techno babble Scrooge didn’t understand and he knew that he would probably never understand. But when he looked at Newton, the boy seemed not only following everything Gyro was saying, but he also added his own techno babble. It was obvious that Newton knew a lot about science and could talk about it with his genius uncle.

“You know, Scrooge,” Ratchet began again, smiling. “Newton comes here every Saturday to hang out with Gyro. He even says that he want to be an inventor like his favorite uncle. And Gyro already decided that Newton will inherit the workshop after his death.”

“Huh…” Was the only thing Scrooge said to that.

All of a sudden, he thought about his nephews. He thought about them often, because even if he was feeling fine, he wasn’t getting younger. He already knew that Huey, Dewey and Louie will inherit his wealth. They proved to be resourceful and good businessmen. They knew the meaning of hard work and had ambitions. Yes, his legacy will be in good hands…

Still, he sometimes felt sad that the McDuck name won’t survive. Right now he and Matilda were the last living McDucks. Once they die, the clan will be only the part of other families’ history.

Ratchet turned to him, took him by the hand and suddenly they were back in Scrooge’s Money Bin. Scrooge felt strangely grounded, like he had just got back into his own body. The ghost didn’t waste any time. He looked into duck’s eyes and asked:

“Do you understand now, Scrooge? Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”

Scrooge didn’t respond immediately. He just leaned on his cane.

“You wanted to tell me that you’ve had family. And that you believe that your descendants will do better than you.”

“I just want you to know, Scrooge,” Ratchet smiled. “that I was happy with my life. We were both doing our things. While you were becoming the richest duck in the world, I became a family man. We both left a legacy.”

“But it doesn’t answer my question.” Scrooge gave Ratchet stern look. “Why have you abandoned me all those years ago?”

Ratchet saddened.

“You really want to know?”

“I _deserve_ to know/!” Scrooge raised his voice.

“Well then, seat down.” The chicken sat on other nearest pile of coins. “It’s a long story.”

Scrooge did as he was told and started to listen.


End file.
